Nothing Flashy, but Siena’s Rossiter Gets the Job Done

ALBANY — Siena forward Ryan Rossiter is nothing if not self-aware. With a 6-foot-9, 234-pound frame that looks as if it could still use a few sandwiches, Rossiter has become a favorite target of opposing student sections on the road.

At Niagara this season, the Purple Eagles’ fans had a giant printout of Rossiter’s head splattered with markings all over it as a way to taunt him.

“My game isn’t very appealing to the average fan,” Rossiter said. “I’m never going to drive down the court and dunk on someone or throw a no-look pass. I just go out there and put in a workman’s effort.”

That was exactly what Rossiter did Sunday night to help Siena advance to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game. He scored 10 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the Saints’ 72-62 semifinal win over Rider.

“He does what they need him to do for them to be successful,” Rider Coach Tommy Dempsey said. “That’s a real credit for any player. As a coach, you have a lot of respect for a kid like Ryan Rossiter.”

It is not hard to find where Rossiter developed his blue-collar work ethic. His father, Steve, is a retired New York City firefighter and a fixture in the seats behind the Siena bench. With a crew cut, a dip of tobacco in his front lip and black work boots, Steve Rossiter has followed Ryan and his older brother, Steve, who just finished his senior year at Davidson, wherever they have played this season.

Monday will be the 51st game Steve Rossiter has seen one of his sons play this season, having traveled 38,000 miles between Albany and the Charlotte area. There have been times he has gone to a Siena game on a Sunday, Davidson on a Monday and back to Siena for a Tuesday game. His wife, Patty, who teaches special education at P.S. 37 on Staten Island, has been to about 30 games this season. Weeknights are harder for her.

Steve Rossiter jokes that his sons’ career are finite, and he has a lifetime to pay off the credit card debt.

Photo

Ryan Rossiter grabbing a rebound in Siena's quarterfinal win over Manhattan on Saturday. Siena plays for the title Monday.Credit
Mike Groll/Associated Press

“We know how much they care about us,” his son Steve said in a phone interview from Davidson. “But they really like coming to Davidson and Siena. They enjoy it as much as we do.”

From going to Steve’s Davidson games, the Rossiters befriended a local couple, Bob and Barbara Hoffman, whose house they stayed at on their visits. They met them at the Brick House, a restaurant where the crab cakes are tasty and the elder Rossiter enjoys a few Brick Lights.

“Now that my career is sadly over, I can join him with some Brick Lights and watch my brother play,” Steve Rossiter said.

“A lot of games ended with one of us throwing the ball at another’s head,” Steve said of the one-on-one battles. “And then someone hitting the other with Wiffle ball bats. There were a lot of fights.”

Ryan Rossiter’s maturation into one of the best players in the MAAC did not come without its struggles. Early in his freshman year at Siena, he said, he was so skinny that Coach Fran McCaffery stopped practice to point out that he was calling for the ball with post position without realizing he had been pushed out to the 3-point line by a beefier player.

Rossiter knew he needed to bulk up, so he disobeyed McCaffery’s orders after his freshman year and did not take two weeks off from working out. (His father smiles big when relaying this story). The work paid off, and he went from part-time starter as a freshman to full-time starter as a sophomore to a leading candidate for MAAC player of the year as a senior, averaging 14.1 points and 11.1 rebounds. He has gone from 205 pounds to more than 230.

Ryan Rossiter had a scholarship offer from Providence out of Monsignor Farrell High School on Staten Island, but he seemingly found the perfect level for his game to flourish.

“He can play in the Big East,” McCaffery said. “But here he had a chance to play through his mistakes as a young player. That’s the key.”

And through nearly every step forward and misstep, Steve and Patty Rossiter have been watching. On Monday, they will see if Siena can book its N.C.A.A. tournament ticket again.

A version of this article appears in print on March 8, 2010, on Page D4 of the New York edition with the headline: Nothing Flashy, but Siena’s Rossiter Gets the Job Done. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe